


A tale of Thor and Trym the Jotun

by The_random_Ravenclaw



Series: Raven's mechs album week 2021 fics [3]
Category: The Bifrost Incident - The Mechanisms (Album), The Mechanisms (Band)
Genre: Asgard worldbuilding (The Bifrost Incident), At least it was intended that way, Attempt at Humor, Based on a tale from norse mythology, Crossdressing, Gen, Heist, I am unleashing my nerdery and you can't stop me, It's Thor, Light-Hearted, More specifically Þrymskviða from the poetic edda, No previous knowledge of norse mythology needed tho, Non-Graphic Violence, Pre-Canon, kind of arranged marriage except they don't actually marry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-14
Updated: 2021-03-14
Packaged: 2021-03-22 18:47:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,585
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30043104
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_random_Ravenclaw/pseuds/The_random_Ravenclaw
Summary: When Thor's H.A.M.M.E.R.S. card, his access card to Asgard's defence system, is stolen he asks Loki for help to retrieve it. She finds out that Trym, the ruler of Jotunheim, has it and that he wants to marry Freya in exchange for returning it. It would be wrong to to ask Freya to marry him, but the card needs to be returned so they decide to trick Trym instead...Yes, this is a story from the poetic edda rewritten to fit into the TBI verse
Relationships: Freya & Loki & Thor (The Bifrost Incident), Loki & Thor (The Bifrost Incident)
Series: Raven's mechs album week 2021 fics [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2206572
Kudos: 5
Collections: Mechs Album Week





	A tale of Thor and Trym the Jotun

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome (back) punks and rebels, you're about to listen to me rambling about norse mythology! I realise this makes the fic sound very lore-heavy, but I think it isn't? If you do want to know more about the lore I based this on, check out the end notes afterwards! I tried to stick as close to the original myth as I could, just with more space and less misogyny
> 
> There are a few things I want to say before this starts: First of all, this is set far pre-canon before Loki started to understand that Asgard is bad and before she met Sigyn. It was hard to find a balance between "Asgard is opressive and shitty" and "The protagonists think their planet is good", but I put in a few references to the corrupt power structure of Asgard. Secondly, the "Jotuns" are giants, the aesir's worst enemies, in the mythology and I'm aware this translates kind of badly to a fic where I had to make them just the people living on another planet (but I guess it could be just another aspect of Asgard's shittiness). 
> 
> The title is written in fornyrdislag, the metre that the poetic edda is written on because I'm a nerd (and proud of it)

Loki was reading in her living room when Thor burst through the door without even knocking. She looked up at her friend, annoyed at the interruption. He was out of breath and looked dishevelled, as if he ran all the way here.

“I need your help Loki, my hammers card is gone!” He looked very upset about this, but Loki had no idea what he was talking about.

“Hammer card?”

“Yes, my H.A.M.M.E.R.S. card.” Thor said slowly, as if she was supposed to know what that meant. She probably looked like a living question mark, so he tried to explain once more. “H.A.M.M.E.R.S. as in Highest Access to the Mjölner Munitions Evader and Retribution System. It’s my login card to the defence satellites protecting Asgard from the Jotuns. You know, the system I’m responsible for.”

“You could have said that from the beginning” Loki put her book aside and stood up. “It’s a silly name, but I don’t know what I expected considering everything that happened when we built it.”

“Wasn’t that when we almost lost Freya and some of our most valuable artefacts to a Jotun because you convinced us to trick the weird satellite-building stranger?”

“Details.” She made a dismissing hand gesture. “Besides, I fixed it and Odin got a free defence system and an eight-legged horse out of it. Speaking of fixing things, you wanted my help with the card. Any idea what happened?”

Thor ran a hand through his hair which only served to make it even messier than it already was. “I think someone stole it.” He started pacing in front of her as he explained, gesturing wildly. “I know where I left it before going to bed, I put it in the small vault right beside my bed like I always do, but it wasn’t there when I woke up this morning. I’ve searched my entire bedroom five times and the rest of the house two times in case I left it elsewhere, which I’d never do, but I can’t find it! You know how tense relations are with Jotunheim, it’s possible one of them stole it. I mean, the vault door was left wide open, I’d never do that!”

“It’s okay, I believe you. We could ask Freya if I can borrow her intelligence spaceship, so I can go spy on the Jotuns for you and see if they have the card”

“Sounds like a good plan, but why are only you going?”

“No offence Thor, but you wouldn’t know stealth if it hit you in the head.”

He laughed at this and dragged her into a crushing side-hug. “Let’s go then, I knew I could count on you”

* * *

An unspecified amount of time later, Loki sat in the bridge of General Freya’s small intelligence spaceship “the Bird” and requested a meeting with Trym, the ruler of Jotunheim. It was a risky move, but she failed to find Thor’s card with the drones Freya’s ship was outfitted with, so it was her only option. A beep told her that the request had been accepted and Trym’s face showed up on the monitor in front of her.

“Loki of Asgard” he said, not sounding surprised to see her at all. “What brings you here alone?”

“I was wondering if you happen to know where Thor’s H.A.M.M.E.R.S. card is. It has disappeared and I’ve heard you might know something about it.”

“As a matter of fact I do.” He wore an expression of smugness that Loki wanted to wipe off his face, but she smiled politely instead and continued to listen. “I’ve hidden it deep below the ground and nobody will bring it back to Asgard unless you bring me Freya as a bride. Tell him that when you return”

The monitor turned off, indicating that Trym had ended the call. Loki sighed. Why did everyone want to marry Freya in exchange for something? This was the second time it happened. Sure, she was very beautiful, but that’s not a guarantee for a happy marriage. It was also creepy as fuck and objectified both Freya and women in general. Ugh, misogyny at its finest. 

Freya was much more than just a pretty face, she was a ruthless general and had more than earned her place in Asgard’s ruling class. She was also a successful businesswoman and owned most of Asgard’s beauty industry, so maybe that’s why some people couldn’t see past her looks. Loki was of the firm opinion that she should get to choose who to marry if she even wanted to do that. Hopefully they could find another solution, because they needed Thor’s access card to keep Asgard safe.

* * *

Both Thor and Freya were waiting for her on the landing strip when she came back. The brising jewellery on Freya’s chest glittered in the sunlight and both looked eager to hear what Loki had to say.

“Did you manage to find out anything?” Thor asked.

“Well, I have some good news and some bad news.” She closed the door and threw the keys to Freya. She caught them and Loki continued. “The good news is that I know who has the card. It’s Trym and he’s willing to return it.”

Thor sighed. “What’s the catch?” 

She put on her most sympathetic smile. “I’m sorry Freya, but he wants to marry you in exchange for the card.”

“I’m not doing it” Freya crossed her arms over her chest. 

“And nobody expects you to either. Don’t worry, we’ll find another way,” Loki said. She couldn’t imagine how horrible it would be to be seen as only a prize to be won.

“Good.” Freya met her eyes and nodded.

“I still need my card back,” Thor said, “so why don’t we call the Council together and see if anyone has a better idea? It is a matter of national security after all.”

Loki pulled out her communication device to do just that.

* * *

The Council consisted of Asgard’s ruling class and was led by Odin. It was the closest thing to a parliament they had, but Odin could still choose to ignore their advice if she felt like it. She could also remove members on a whim, so it was best to stay close to her line during meetings. It was the place to discuss matters of how Asgard should be ruled and acted as the highest military command if they were at war. 

The mood was tense as they discussed how to retrieve Thor’s H.A.M.M.E.R.S. login card. Marrying Freya off was off the table so they needed a new and creative idea. Usually Loki was the one to provide those, which was probably the reason a scientist was on the Council in the first place, but for once she couldn’t come up with anything. Then Heimdall spoke up.

“What if we trick him? If Thor dresses up as Freya with a wedding veil to hide his face and the brising jewellery to identify him as Freya, we could trick Trym into giving you the card back. Then you can just shoot him and flee back here.”

“Wouldn’t that start a war?” Baldur asked.

Odin spoke up. “It was only a matter of time before we went to war with the Jotuns and Trym was the one to steal the H.A.M.M.E.R.S. card in the first place. If we take their leader out they’ll be poorly organized and we’ll win easier.”

They all knew there was no way to argue with the All-Mother when she’d made her decision. They were going to war against the Jotuns.

“Are we sure that this will work?” Thor asked. “I don’t look much like Freya and I doubt Trym is that stupid.”

“I’ll go with you as a bridesmaid and help,” Loki said. “I’ve spoken to him before and he’s pretty dense so it could work if we’re careful. I think we can conclude he’s pretty misogynistic too since he wants to marry Freya against her will, so I doubt he’ll look too closely at the bride. It’s not like we have any other option, they can override our defence system any minute as long as they have your login card.”

Thor sighed. “I suppose we better start planning then.”

* * *

Arrangements were made and a week or so later, the date of the wedding arrived. Loki sat with Thor by the long table in Trym’s great hall. Both of them wore disguises and neither Trym nor any of the other Jotuns in the hall seemed suspicious. The groom himself looked to be in unusually high spirits and had already drunk a fair bit of the mead. Hopefully that meant he wouldn’t look too closely at the bride.

Thor was wearing traditional women’s clothing, a long light blue chemise of the finest flax Asgard could produce with a rectangular piece of fabric fastened to his front with two oval brooches on the chest. The dark blue fabric was as long as the chemise and lined with golden details.

Around his neck hanged the brising jewellery, the most beautiful necklace ever made in the Yggdrasil system (at least according to Asgardian papers) and a characteristic of Freya’s. He had a white shawl around his shoulders and keys hanged from the thin belt around his waist. There was a wedding veil covering his head, and most importantly his face. Thor hadn’t even bothered to shave, so if anyone saw his face the game would be up.

Loki nervously ran her hand over the handle of the gun hidden under her own chemise. It was a reassuring weight, despite the fact that she didn’t like to use it. Thor had at least five firearms hidden under his skirt and he was probably a lot more eager to use them. They were good friends, but Loki would be the first to admit that he had some serious anger problems.

Everything went smoothly until the dinner was served. As was tradition in Jotunheim, the ceremony itself would take place right after dinner when all attending guests had had time to get pleasantly drunk. The problem was that Thor had the appetite of five hungry teenage boys put together and seemed to forget he was supposed to be undercover as a woman with a normal appetite. This brought the attention of Trym, who was rapidly leaving the tipsy stage of being drunk.

“Damn, I’ve never seen a woman eat that much.”

Fuck, what if he suspected something was up? Loki quickly cut in before Thor had the chance to say anything and give himself away with his voice. Trym had probably heard Freya’s voice on the propaganda films Asgard cabled out over the entire system, and Thor sounded nothing like her.

“Oh, it’s just that she hasn’t eaten much these last few days. Freya was so excited to get here that she barely had time to eat.” Loki could sense that Thor was giving her an angry glare from behind the veil, but she ignored it. Diverting Trym’s attention from suspicious behaviour was more important than Thor’s pride.

“In that case I would say I’m just as happy to have her here,” Trym said. “I have lots of things: money, power and all riches a man could wish for. The only piece that was missing was a beautiful wife like Freya” 

Then he turned to Thor “Since you were so excited to get here I’m sure you wouldn’t mind a few kisses from your husband to be, my dear”

Loki froze and watched in horror as Trym reached for the veil. Fuck, if he tried to kiss Thor he would absolutely notice that Thor wasn’t Freya and they’d probably be killed or something worse. There was no way this could end well, but she didn’t have time to say anything before Trym lifted the veil. Then he promptly let the veil go and jumped back in horror.

“Why are her eyes that wild? They look like fire or something!” Trym slurred a little on the words.

Ah, so he’d been subjected to one of Thor’s death glares. Luckily, Trym was either drunk enough or stupid enough to still believe Thor was Freya. Loki started to breathe again. Now she only needed a good explanation to keep him oblivious.

“Um, sleep deprivation?” It came out more like a question than a statement. “Freya was so excited to get here that she couldn’t fall asleep.” 

That was maybe one of the stupider things she’d ever come up with, but Trym nodded in understanding and seemed to calm down. She had no idea why he bought it, but she wasn’t going to question whatever let them stay undetected. Fuck, that had been way too close. She took a few deep and calming breaths to stop panicking. This was going to be fine.

Then Trym stood up on a table to command the attention of the wedding guests. “My friends, I think it’s time. Carry in the card to honour the deal and let us be wed, me and my bride.”

A servant was sent to retrieve the card and the room was rearranged for the ceremony, which would take place right after the card was given to Freya’s bridesmaid. Thor stood up to take his place beside Trym with some reluctance, but otherwise it went without a hitch. When the servant returned, Loki smiled and thanked them before safely tucking the card away and nodding to Thor. 

At once, the scene changed. Thor brought out two plasma guns and started shooting wildly around the room. The first one he hit was Trym, a clean shot right through the head. Chaos broke out and Loki drew her own gun. She didn’t need to use it much though, Thor had lots of barely repressed anger against the people who stole his access card and was glad to take it out on them. Soon, there were no Jotuns left alive in the room and they escaped to the small getaway spacecraft hidden close by. 

There was no time to relax though, not until they were a safe distance from Jotunheim. Loki could feel the adrenaline and stress of the day slowly draining out of her and collapsed in a seat.

“I think that went pretty well”

Thor wiped the sweat from his brow. “Yeah, I think so too. Can I have my card back?”

“Sure” She took it out of the pocket and handed it back to him. It was a small white card that turned iridescent in the light with H.A.M.M.E.R.S. emblazed on it in thick black letters. There was also a small photo of Thor. So much bother for something so small and unassuming. “But it was a close call, I was convinced he would find out we were bluffing.”

“Yeah. ‘Sleep deprivation’, what were you even thinking?” He smiled at her fondly.

“To be fair, I wasn’t. But it worked out so I’m calling it a stroke of genius”

They both laughed, then bickered some more. Asgard’s safety was once again secured and they could leave this whole thing behind, at least until the Jotuns decided to go to war against Asgard over it. That was a worry for later though, in this moment they were just two laughing friends in a spaceship on their way home from a successful mission.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed! Please consider leaving kusos or a comment if you did as those makes my day.
> 
> So, I said I'd talk about the lore behind this. I sat with the original poem, Trymskväde (or Þrymskviða, but I'll stick to the swedish words) while writing, so I thought I'd give you a recap of the myth. Thor wakes up and his hammer is stolen, so he asks Loki for help. They go to Freya, because she has a bird disguise that transforms the wearer into a bird which Loki borrows and flies to where the giants live. He meets Trym who tells him that he has the hammer and will return it in exchange for marrying Freya. Loki flies back to Thor, tells him this, and then they actually ask Freya to marry Trym. She says fuck no so hard that Asgard shakes (iconic tbh), so all the gods meet up and try to find a solution instead. Heimdall suggests that they dress Thor up as Freya, but he says no since everyone will call him womanlike. Loki tells him to shut up and that the giants will invade Asgard if he doesn't get the hammer back, but he also offers to go with Thor as a bridesmaid. When they're there, Thor eats a fuckton of food and drinks a fuckton of mead, so Trym becomes suspicious. Loki replies that she hasn't eaten anything in 8 day bc she wanted to go to the giants so badly. When Trym tries to kiss "Freya" he jumps away bc Thor's eyes look so angry and Loki explains this by saying Freya didn't sleep in eight days either. There's also a poor giantess that asks the bride for jewellery as a wedding gift. The vikings uses Thor's hammer as a symbol during important events, so for the actual ceremony Trym asks for the hammer to be put in "Freya's" lap. Then Thor kills all of the giants and there's a verse describing how the giantess gets hammer blows instead of rings. You may understand why I changed some things. 
> 
> Brisingasmycket, or the brising jewellery as I decided to call it is mentioned as a key piece of Thor's disguise as Freya always wears it and it's the most beautiful necklace in exsistance. If you're wondering about the references to how the defence system was built, it's a reference to another fic I'm writing that I couldn't resist sneaking in. That one is based on the myth of how Sleipner came to be so look it up if you're curious. The clothes Thor is wearing is based on women's clothing from the Viking age.
> 
> I think that's all, kudos to you if you read through all of that. I hope you enjoyed the fic! My tumblr is [@therandomravenclw](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/therandomravenclw)


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